The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri PiyushGoyal today urged Indian industry to think big and set accelerated and aggressive targets, with a vision to achieve transformative changes by 2047 when India would be celebrating hundred years of independence.
He was delivering the keynote address at the 94th Annual Convention of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi today.
The Minister conveyed his appreciation to FICCI for making the Indian pavilion at the Dubai Expo a reality in the face of immense challenges and uncertainties caused by the pandemic. It may be noted that the Indian pavilion has been one of the most visited and appreciated pavilions at the Dubai Expo.
The Minister expressed hope that the Dubai experiment would be replicated at the PragatiMaidan, so that people from all over the nation, especially students and youngsters get an opportunity to visit, explore and take pride in our progress and achievements.
Dwelling upon the challenges faced by Indian industry during the pandemic, Shri Goyal said that it had recovered remarkably well and is poised for faster growth. Underscoring the growth achieved in services export, the Minister also said that $400 billion worth of merchandise export could very well become a reality.
The Minister said that the lessons learnt from the crisis has been that if the government and industry work in tandem and get all our Missions on board, achievements will be made and added that if we aspire to reach a trillion dollars of services and merchandise export each by around 2030, we will achieve that too.
The Minister said that the government did not believe in making incremental changes, but has worked to saturate every possibility in each project that has been taken up, be it cleanliness and sanitation or cooking gas connection or electricity or healthcare. Healthcare, he said, is being taken up in a mission mode with the vision of providing access to quality, affordable healthcare to all, in an organized manner through technological support.
Speaking of the government’s efforts to improve the ease of living and the ease of doing business, Shri Goyal said that 22,000 compliances were reduced or eliminated in a year and added that brainstorming was being done to achieve more.
The Minister said that the world looked upon India as a trusted partner, especially because of the resilience we displayed during the pandemic by meeting all our international commitments made by business and industry. All through COVID period, Indian industry has demonstrated its unique ability to accept challenges and has been appreciated world over, he said.
Quoting the Prime Minister, Shri Goyal said that even if we have billion problems, we have billion minds to find solutions to those problems. He said that the kind of governance model India was trying to propagate and promote is focussed on highest levels of integrity, on minimum government, maximum governance, on ease of life, on ease of doing business etc.
The Minister assured that the government is willing to listen to new ideas, engage with industry at every level and work as an enabler, facilitator and partner.
Outlining the steps taken by Commerce and Industry Ministry to promote business and industry, from crucial policy decisions to PLI schemes to the recent large package announced for semi-conductor industry, Shri PiyushGoyal said that new opportunities were being explored vigorously.
Referring to the FTAs that are under works, the Minister said that FTAs with UAE, Canada, UK are soon to happen and FTA with EU and Israel have already been launched. He added that GCC countries had also expressed interest in beginning negotiations with India on that front. Shri Goyal said that along with an FTA with UAE, other avenues such as the setting up of an India Mart in Dubai consisting of stores, warehouses at affordable prices were also being explored.
Highlighting the huge opportunity for Indian textiles in the world market, especially technical textiles and manmade fabric, Shri Goyal urged the stakeholders of the textile industry to set big targets. He urged business and industry to be unrestricted by the past, break the barriers of traditional thinking and go ahead with confidence.
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